Gas bearing rotors



Apri11,197o CQ-wma v 3,504,987

A GAS BEARING RoToRs Filed Nov. 20, 1967 [0L/N b/ DEE United StatesyPatent U.S. Cl. 415-91 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to devices of the kind in which a hollow rst member iscarried by fluid bearing means within a second member, its object beingto provide improvements resulting in particularly low frictional losses.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my -copending applicationsSer. No. 557,230 led June 13, 19'66, now U. S. Patent No. 3,427,879,Ser. No. 557,231 tiled .Tune 13, 1966, Ser. No. 635,741 led May 3, 1967,now U. S. Patent No. 3,437,387, Ser. No. 641,876 filed May 29, 1967, nowU. S. Patent No. 3,446,150 and Ser. No. 680,405 filed Nov. 3, 1967.

According to the present invention, a device comprises a stationarymember having an internal surface constituting the outer bounding wallof a fluid bearing, a tubular hollow movable member disposed within thestationary member .and having an external surface constituting the innerbounding wall of said fluid bearing, whereby the fluid ybearing isdisposed radially outwardly of the through flow passage of the tubularhollow member, and means within the tubular hollow member to coact withuid flow through the movable member.

The response fthe movable member to forces or torques may be eithermotion, linear or rotational, or creation of reaction forces uponconstraining members, opposed by mechanical, hydrostatic, magnetic orelectrical means.

In a first form, the stationary member is a housing and the movablemember is capable of linear motion with relations to and within thestationary member.

In the context, the term uid bearing is intended to refer both togas-fed bearings and to liquid-fed bearings.

In another form, the stationary member is a stator and the movablemember is a rotor, the uid bearing then being a journal bearing. Therespective surfaces of the stator and rotor may be shaped so as toprovide only one or more journal bearings, or so as to provide onlyjournal bearing means and axial thrust bearing means. Alternatively, thestator and rotor may have still other surfaces which together dene oneor a pair of uid axial thrust bearings.

Where a combination of journal bearings means and axial thrust bearingmeans is provided, these may be'fed with uid from a source through feedchannel means in the stator common to Iboth bearing means. Alternativelythe axial thrust bearings may be fed 'by bleed from the journal bearing.The or each such axial-thrust bearing may exhaust into the through owpassage.

3,504,987 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 iICC In order to facilitateunderstanding of the invention, an embodiment of uid ilow meter inaccordance therewith is hereinafter described with reference to the'accompany ing drawing, which is an axial section.

In the fluid ow meter illustration a ow path for uid in the direction ofarrow A, is dened by a'londuit having two parts 1 and 2 with llanges 3to which are bolted flanges 4' of a stator 5. .The parts 1 and 2 of theconduit are aligned, and between them there is provided an intermediatecontinuation formed by a tubular rotor 6 and a pair o-f end rings 7 xedin the stator 5. The bores 8 of the conduit portions and the insidecircumferences 9 of the rings 7 are cylindrical and of the same radius,and the through-passage 10,0f the tubular rotar is likewise cylindricaland of the same radius, so as to form at each end a smooth steplesscontinuation of the bores of the conduit portions.

The rotor 5 is a plain thin-walled cylindrical tube, and its outercylindrical surface 11 forms one of the two surfaces deining a uidbearing gap 12. The other of the two surfaces defining the gap 12 is theinside circumference 13 of a member 14 secured in the stator. The stator5 carries an inlet union 15 the passage 16 of which communicates with anannular passage 17 from which two series of angularly spaced radialholes 18 lead to annular channels 19. From the channels 19 there areprovided respective angularly spaced feed passages 20 leading to thefluid bearing gap 12, whereby fluid under pressure can be fed to the gap12 to support the rotor in the stator.

At each end of the rotor 6 there are radial end surfaces 21 and thesecoact with radial wall surfaces 22 of the stator to dene axialend-thrust bearing gaps 23. The gaps 23 at each end of the rotor -arefed with uid by bleed from the journal bearing gap 12. The end thrustgaps 23 exhaust into the-main uid ilow` conduit.

The rotor 6 carries; within its through-flow passage, a set of fourinclined vanes 24 to coact with the main uid flow and cause the rotor to`be driven in rotation. The rotor 6 also carries a series of magneticelements 25 spaced at equal angular intervals about its circumferenceand adapted to create electrical sign-als in an electromagnetic coil 26housed in the rotor, whereby the speed of rotation can be determined.

Such an arrangement provides a flow meter in which the main uid owpassage is smooth, stepless and of constant bore throughout. The rotoris carried by bearings which are disposed wholly radially outwards ofthe main uid ow and are very nearly friction-free. The vanes 24 carriedby the rotor 6 are designed solely with a view to coacting with the uidow in a turbulence-free manner.

I claim:

1. A rotary device comprising:

(a) a stator for inclusion in a uid ow conduit, said stator including apair of axially-spaced end elements each having a coaxial cylindricalbore of the same diameter and an intermediate element disposed betweensaid end elements and having a coaxial cylindrical bore of a greaterdiameter than that of the end elements;

(b) a tubular rotor disposed wholly radially within the intermediateelement of the stator and axially between the spaced end elements of thestator, said rotor having an internal coaxial cylindrical bore of thesame diameter as the end elements and an external coaxial cylindricalsurface which defines with the bore of the intermediate element acylindrical uid journal bearing gap;

(c) means within the tubular rotor to coact with fluid ow through therotor.

2. A rotary device, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tubular rotor hasa radial end face at each end, and each such end face is spaced from aradial face of the adjacent end element of the stator, thereby to dene aHuid axial-thrust bearing gap at each end 0f the rotor.

3. A rotary device, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stator includesrst passage means for feeding uid under pressure to the journal bearinggap, and second passage means for feeding fluid under pressure to bothof the axial-thrust bearing gaps.

4. A rotary device, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the journal bearinggap communicates at each end with the respective axial-thrust bearinggap, whereby said axialthrust bearing gaps are fed with uid underpressure by bleed from the journal bearing gap.

8/ 1952 Serduke. 5/ 1968 Powell.

FOREIGN PATENTS 3/ 1961 France. 5/ 1967 France. 12/ 1963 Great Britain.

E. A. POWELL, JR. Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

